


Maria

by starkravingfangirl



Series: bad things happen bingo 2019 [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Violence, F/M, Female Tony Stark, Gaslighting, Hopeful Ending, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Howard Stark's Bad Parenting, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Maria Stark's C+ Parenting, Maria Stark's Meh Parenting, POV Maria Stark, Unhealthy Relationships, ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-04 23:56:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18354365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkravingfangirl/pseuds/starkravingfangirl
Summary: Maria’s voice had long since lost the Italian accent from when she came to America. She had been bright and young, looking for a better future than plucking the grapes on a lazy day at the estate in Italy and managing the shipments of wine, but her carefully laid out plan had gone off the rails when she had met Howard.She didn’t know if she regretted it yet.(written for the bad things happen bingo, prompt: domestic abuse)





	Maria

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This was written for the bad things happen bingo. TRIGGER WARNING: this is definitely an unhealthy relationship, and had some non-explicit domestic violence. It is also heavily implied that there is rape/non-con happening. IF THIS WILL TRIGGER YOU, DO NOT READ IT. THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING.

Maria’s voice had long since lost the Italian accent from when she came to America. She had been bright and young, looking for a better future than plucking the grapes on a lazy day at the estate in Italy and managing the shipments of wine, but her carefully laid out plan had gone off the rails when she had met Howard.

She didn’t know if she regretted it yet.

Howard hadn’t liked her accent, claiming the funny way Maria had rolled her r’s and stressed certain syllables tarnished the family’s (or rather just Howard, Maria had been quite proud of her heritage before) All-American reputation. Nevertheless, she had done her best to sound like an American, pronouncing the a strangely and emphasizing the r. As her new American life went on, a tiny voice, a voice that still sounded Italian - _like home_ \- would protest, “ _questo non è giusto_ ,” but she did her best to ignore it.

America was a country of immigrants. It had always been like that, from the founding of the country to the 1960s when she had married Howard. Howard, however, never seemed to get the new values of the country as Americans changed and adapted to the new world around them with the civil rights movement and such. She had opened her mouth once to protest the change might be nice, and Howard had done the thing he’d swore he’d never do at the start of their marriage. He had backhanded her so hard across the face that she had gone staggering backward and tripped over the chair in front of the table. Howard had continued screaming about how she was a worthless wife, good for nothing. Maria couldn’t hear him over the ringing in her ears. He had later apologized, explaining how she shouldn’t have done that, he was only teaching her a lesson, and she understood right? She learned from that and kept her mouth shut, and life moved on by, Maria doing her best to appease Howard’s violent moods and stay out of sight.

It wasn’t hard to stay out of his reach. Howard was constantly in the Arctic looking for his beloved Captain America, and he made it a point to ignore her when she had fucked up, explaining condescendingly how it was her fault that she had dropped and shattered the plate, or about how refusing to have sex with Howard was all her fault, considering that she was his wife. And he wasn’t wrong. Right? She should have been looking where she had been going, so the plate was her fault and warranted getting slapped because now she knew not to do it again.

When she received the news about her pregnancy, she was simultaneously elated and terrified. She couldn’t - _shouldn’t_ \- raise a child who would be constantly surrounded by Howard’s vicious moods and constant absences, but she loved the idea of having her belly swell with a child and raising him or her with the values she had been raised with. She told him when it was too hard to hide her enlarging belly, even though Howard had remarked her gaining a few pounds and remarked about cutting her off before she had broken the news. Howard had rejoiced at having an heir when he got the news, exclaiming that he could raise a man to step up and take Stark Industries next. She didn’t dare mention that it might be a girl, who she _knew_ he wouldn’t take for an heir and would probably have the child married off by twenty-one.

Antonia Elena Stark came into the world kicking and screaming, setting a legacy to never keep silent that would follow her to the rest of her days. She had fought tooth and nail for the name Antonia Elena, claiming Antonia as a female version of Howard’s middle name and Elena as a beautiful name. She didn’t mention how Antonia and Elena were Italian names to honor the culture that she had long since lost, and how Elena meant ‘light,’ since these days it seemed there was so little in Maria’s life.

Howard didn’t say anything in the hospital but Maria recognized the pinched look between his brows and the eyes that screamed disappointment at the news of the gender. When she was released from the hospital, Antonia slumbering peacefully in her carrier, the look in Howard’s eyes were slightly crazed and Maria knew she was in for it.

They got home and Maria received the worst beating of their marriage, Howard screaming about how it was her fault and her fault alone that his  _fucking heir_ was a good for nothing _woman of all things_ , and who the hell was going to take over Stark Industries? She didn’t mention how Peggy was a woman, by far the most capable woman she had ever met and was one of Howard’s closest friends.

She hid the bruises and the cuts with concealer like always.

Antonia, soon nicknamed Toni, to give Howard the illusion that she was a boy, grew up a prodigy, Maria doing her best to keep the curious and incredibly intelligent child occupied and out of Howard’s clutches. Howard paid her no interest until she reached the ripe age of four years old and she built the fated circuit board. Then, she couldn’t keep Toni out of his workshop if she tried.

Howard’s minimal attention was not enough to satisfy the girl’s brain, tutors only being able to do so much and be there for so long. Jarvis had a job on top of managing the little girl, and for God’s sake, Maria was her mother! She took to teaching Toni Italian, to push her values and her heritage onto the girl that she had been forced to forget.

When Toni built the engine, they had to send her to school. Maria insisted on a boarding school, trying to get her out of the toxic household. Toni would grow up thinking that they didn’t love her or want her at home, but by God, Maria would do her best to make sure Toni grew up spending the least amount of time with the bigoted, abusive man that was her father.

Years later, when the Winter Soldier had her by the back of the head and was banging her head against the car dashboard, she felt nothing but glee at the fact the old, bitter man that had ruined her life had no hold over her or her daughter anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> questo non è giusto - this is not right
> 
> I have a tumblr! 
> 
> https://thehelloimmawitchbitch.tumblr.com/


End file.
